It may be true, as Benjamin Franklin’s famous epigram has it, that beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. For me, though, it’s easier to see God in fruit.
Many years ago, I happened to visit a vineyard in late August, close to harvest time. The wide leaves and the sunlit grapes were so beautiful that I was deeply aware, perhaps for the first time, of God’s abundant love. Even now when I see a vineyard in full fruit I get a frisson of that experience.
Today the kids and I picked raspberries, which have the advantage of being a very pleasant fruit to pick (no thorns, little stooping). I love the way that the berries hide under leaves; if you lift a branch, you are almost certain to be rewarded. An agreeable hour or so of light labor yielded over 10 pounds of fruit. Again, the green leaves and the gorgeous sunlit berries put me in mind of God’s abundant grace and love — enough for me, you, the birds, the soil, and everyone who hungers to be filled to overflowing.
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